Spring's Winter
by Jeva
Summary: [One Shot - Warning: Chapter 93 manga spoiler] "Shouts and screams came from all around as he pushed himself up... Then he saw it. A bloodied, broken mess lying not two meters from him..."


_Author's Notes:_ -.-' I've written another one...I should be shot... --makes a face-- Anyway, I wrote this because I had an idea in my head about how Kyoko had died and why Kyou has "I won't forgive you" in his head. Well, my theory is that Kyoko might have said something just before she died, but what she said sounded like "I won't forgive you". Now, if I knew Japanese, I could probably take a stab at what she said, but for now all I can say is that Kyou might have not been able to fully hear what she had said and he put those words in place because he knew who she was and he remembered his promise to her. It would seem like to him that he had broken his promise (if, indeed, the promise he made to Kyoko was to protect Tohru) by 'killing' Kyoko. --swirly-eyed-- Well, it makes sense to me...-.-'  
  
Anyway, here's the ficcy! --grins--  
  
_Disclaimer:_ No, I do not own anything. T.T Talk to Takaya-sensei if you really want the characters! :P

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**  
Spring's Winter**

  
  
It was a spring day. Sakura was in bloom just like the day he had escaped the cruelty of his family, the initial tragedy that had also happened on a spring day. Those kind of thoughts didn't affect him, however, as he entered the home he'd come to love over the years. In fact, such tragic thoughts were farthest from his mind.  
  
He had been able to keep his temper at school, and he felt that he stood a chance to at least land a hit on Kazuma in their pre-planned spar. In all honesty, he hadn't had a day this good in a while, and it put a smile on his face as he stuck his head in the kitchen to see Kazuma attempting to make himself something to eat.  
  
He leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, before asking, "Are you planning to burn down the house, Shishou?"  
  
Kazuma turned toward him with an embarrassed smile. "I'm not **that** bad... am I?"  
  
He didn't answer but pushed himself away from the wall, planing his hands on his hips, the smile on his face becoming a smirk. "Shishou... you are worse than that."  
  
The elder man chuckled, not at all offended. That was something he loved about Kazuma. The martial arts master never got angry when he said things like that. It had been another thing that had taken time to get used to, though.  
  
"So how has your day been?" Kazuma asked, cocking his head to the side.  
  
He was about to answer when the sight of smoke coming from the stove made him say, "It's burning."  
  
"Eh?" Kazuma blinked at him cluelessly before turning around and then backing away from the dark cloud coming from the meal he had been making. "Anou..."  
  
He sighed and walked over, turning off the stove before going to open a window. "You're hopeless," he told the now-bashful man with amusement.  
  
"Ara," responded Kazuma, looking at the charred remains of his meal, "that was the last of the food."  
  
"**NA**? **Didn't you go shopping yesterday**?"  
  
"Actually..."  
  
He snorted at his teacher, who merely smiled cheerfully back. "You're hopeless," he restated before scowling. "You said we'd spar today."  
  
Kazuma rose his hands in a peaceful gesture. "Gomen ne, gomen ne," he said, never losing his lightheartedness, "but we'll have to postpone it until after you go shopping."  
  
"**NA**? Shishou--!" Before he could do anything, the man had already ushered him out the door and gave him a fair amount of yen.  
  
"You always complain about what I bring home, so this time, you shop," his shishou said reasonably before waving. "Ja matta ne!"  
  
The door closed, and he scowled at it before stuffing his hands in his pocket and starting off. He couldn't argue with what Kazuma had said, afterall.  
  


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Over half an hour later, he stood impatiently at a stop-light waiting to continue on. He sighed in frustration, only being a block from his destination. It wasn't that he hated doing the shopping--though he had been forced to leave the house without his shoes. He had just been looking forward to his spar with Kazuma and was frustrated at the lgiht for not changing faster.  
  
Finally, the light changed, but he paused for a moment, frowning at a sight to his left. Some woman was arguing with another woman before huffing and walking to the corner he was at. Shrugging, he then started to cross the street before the light changed again.  
  
Then everything happened at once.  
  
"**MATTE**! KYOU!"  
  
The shout made him pause and start to turn. He was then shoved roughly from behind just as a horn started to blare and a sick **thud** accompanied by an equally sick **crash**. All of this happened in the time it took him to hit the ground, scraping his hands on the concrete.  
  
Shouts and screams came from all around as he pushed himself up. So dazed was he that, at first, he wondered what was going on and why someone had shoved him. Then he saw it. A bloodied, broken mess lying not two meters from him.  
  
He froze.  
  
Horror spread throughout him as he stared at the figure. The only things he noticed were that somehow the person was still alive and their hair was a surprising orange. Slowly, dread crawled into his shocked and numbing system as he slowly stood and made his way to the person.  
  
The face, he saw, was one he remembered from his childhood. Now, it was bloodied and pained. This realization made him drop on his knees beside her.  
  
Honda Kyoko opened her eyes to meet his own crimson with a hard emotion. A small smirk appeared on her face before she managed to hoarsely say something that was so quiet that the only way he knew what she was saying was by reading her lips, which then allowed one last breath to pass through them before--  
  
He shook as shock overcame his senses. It was then that he heard all the shouts that had been quiet just before--  
  
"She's dead!" someone shouted, and he turned to see a paramedic squatting at her other side. That was when he realized someone had put their hands on his shoulders.  
  
"This one's going into shock," a voice said from his right.  
  
"Get him out of here and contact his parents--"  
  
"Aw, jeez...she had a daughter. Hiroshi, get on the phone and--"  
  
"Oi. Oi, are you still with me?"  
  


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Not even ten minutes later, he was seated in a hospital waiting room. He'd gone numb and hadn't been able to process anything until he heard his name. That made him look up to see Kazuma watching him worriedly with a receptionist standing behind him, having been ordered to keep an eye on him so that the doctors would know if he passed out.  
  
Right then, however, he only saw Kazuma who kneeled in front of him, taking his hands into his own. "Kyou," he said steadily, never looking away from his eyes. "Kyou, what happened?"  
  
He then remembered the events--it had all happened so fast--with such frightening clarity that he felt his throat tightening and found it hard to breathe. A firm squeeze from Kazuma's hands snapped him back to the present, and he swallowed hard to get rid of the choking lump before he hoarsely said, "S-she shoved me a-and got hit by the car..."  
  
_She save me--_  
  
"...I killed her..."  
  
A drop of liquid fell on his arm, and he knew without a doubt that he was crying. She had died... It was another death that he had caused, and...  
  
**_"I won't forgive you..."_**  
  
...she had known it had been his fault, had known of that part of his curse somehow, she had known... that she wouldn't see her daughter again because of him.  
  
"Eh, Souma-san?" the receptionist asked when Kazuma stood and then helped him stand.  
  
"Don't worry," Kazuma said grimly before turning to her. "I think some time and reflection is the only solution for this. Daijoubou... daijoubou, Kyou..."  
  
The martial artist then led him outside of the hopital to head back to their house outside the city. The man never pressed him, and he never spoke, silently suffering with memories from his childhood of Honda Kyoko, who had been the second person to fall victim to his curse.  
  
Even though he said nothing, Kazuma seemed to know what he was thinking and said softly, "Kyou...pack your things when we get home."  
  
He looked up at Kazuma, terrified that he was being sent away, that he was going to be locked away sooner than he had hoped.  
  
Kazuma, however, looked back to him and finished, his voice still soft, "We'll be going to the mountains. It is best to get away from life for a time."  
  
He continued to look at the man before he looked to the ground, the tears returning quickly from both relief and shame. Why did Kazuma want to keep him even with what happened? How could he--  
  
_**"I won't forgive you..."**_  
  
He closed his eyes to push those words away. She wouldn't ever forgive him... and he would never be able to forgive himself. But...he would keep his promise...  
  
It was all that he could do...

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_Author's Notes:_ T.T So sad, really...anyway, this might seem to go by really fast, but the most tramatic experiences in a person's life happens the fastest. To quote my sis: "It all happens fast and then it takes forever to get over it." --nods-- Yeah...so Kyou is yet again messed up. I love writing angsty Kyou... --evil grin--


End file.
